As editor Scott Mowbray prepared to say good-bye, he got cooking. Very late in my career at this magazine—in fact, the day after I decided to write a farewell-to-readers article in the form of six simple recipes of my own devising—I discovered what a pain in the ass it is to actually develop recipes for this magazine. This is ironic, […]

On a sticky May evening in Alabama, my family of four sits crowded on a giant pillow in the back of our pickup truck at the drive-in theater in Harpersville, a short ways outside Birmingham. As the previews drone into a sinking sun and the mosquitoes commence their whiny score, I unpack the sushi I made earlier with my […]

If you’ve paid any attention to the late-night talk show barbs and the wry-witted, pun-centric buzz online, you’ll know that Thanksgiving and Hanukkah fall on the same date this year. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime cyclical snafu, one that many are enjoying (like Asher Weintraub, 9-year-old inventor of the Menurkey) while many roll their eyes. The switch for me has meant that […]

Three Thanksgivings ago, my wife took a special guest along for our eight-hour drive to her mother’s house in Texas: a 12-pound turkey, soaking in a cooler full of cold cider brine. This Thanksgiving, we’re headed to the beach with friends, again with a bathing turkey in tow, which will officially make our Rolling Brine Roadshow a tradition. Yes, we […]

Tomorrow is October 1, the start of my most favorite month. It’s my birthday month, and I celebrate all month long. With my birthday in sight, I’ve got presents on my mind. But as I reflect on what gifts I’d like this year, I realize I really don’t need anything. Instead, I’m hoping friends and family who want to give […]

Last week’s patriotic holiday gave many of us the opportunity to fire up the grill and try new recipes — or some old favorites. Here, a look at what you’ve been cooking lately. Upload your own photos to your Instagram account, add #CookCL, and we might share it here, on our Instagram, or in the magazine.

Reader Kathy Spencer sent us this adorable photo of her toddler. “Last summer, I came home to find my son napping in his room holding a copy of my Cooking Light magazine. I just had to snap a picture. Gave me a chuckle. He is 3 years old and loves to cook!” she says. Here’s hoping he was dreaming of […]

Each year, the morning after our Passover Seder, most of us would still be too full to even consider breakfast. Still, my grandfather always made matzo brei (rhymes with “fry”), a classic Ashkenazic dish. Since we can’t eat leavened bread or fermented grain products during Passover, toast and cereal were off the table for breakfast. But this cross between a […]

Got some nice responses to my editor’s page in January about my mother’s recipes. Clearly, the preservation of what one reader calls “heritage” recipes is a high priority with folks who have aging parents. Here’s a taste: I told my daughter the other day I am going to have to video the process of making some of my relatives’ dishes […]

For our senior editor, Christmas wasn’t Christmas without the taste of these masa comforts. I grew up in Texas, where tamales are as much a part of Christmas as wreaths and trees, a result of the state’s proximity to Mexico. I remember always having tamales around the holidays, a gift bestowed on my family by our friend Eva, who was […]